Saturday, December 29, 2012

#26Acts

When I thought about what I could do, I realized that it would have to be something completely unrelated to publishing, critiquing, querying, editing. I want to do something that has no chance of benefiting me professionally.

7 comments:

Thanks for this post, Janet. #26Acts has been on my mind a lot as well. Yesterday, I wished my ex-husband's fiance-the woman partly responsible for breaking up my marriage-a Happy Birthday. This was not easy for me, but I wanted to do something outside my comfort zone. A couple of Christmases ago I'd paid for some layaway items for workers at Walmart. One of them, a tall black man, who was the father of two small children found out about it before I'd left the store. He came up to me and was crying and couldn't stop hugging me. It was a most extraordinary moment.

I plan to do more in the names of those lost at Sandy Hook. Maybe, in the long run, the loss of so many precious lives will prove to be an impetus that opened our communal eyes and helped make the world a better place. If we each do a little, it can add up to a lot.

After a deep personal crisis, I started crocheting scarves to donate to the Dulaan Mongolia project (since discontinued.) A friend posted the pattern and it was very simple chain-stitch scarves, something even I could make, and you could even make it with leftover yarn. I'd never knitted or crocheted before.

The act of making and donating the scarves was soothing when I felt raw, and someone else could feel warm afterward. I've since branched into making hats and scarves to donate to the homeless, and I'm poised to start a knitting ministry in my parish in the new year.

If you wouldn't mind a suggestion, something that's pure craft (that hook going in and out, the needle pulling loops through loops) is a great way to reach out to others. The pattern I used for the self-fringing scarf is here: http://kehinde.com/blog/?p=205 (And by "pattern" I mean "the instructions are two lines long.)

Once people realize that, as social animals, we actually benefit psychologically from acts of giving, then the world will take one step toward being a better place. The act can be something as small as giving away a coffee, to something as significant as caring for a dying family member. It's what separates us. It's what makes us human.

We went today to deliver gifts at a care center. I slowed things up a lot because I kept stopping to visit with many of the residents. I was amazed at how many needed a hand to hold or to press to their cheeks - how many longed for human touch. It was a great day, and I need to go back often.

I love the idea of the #26Acts. When I first read about it just before Christmas, it motivated me to finally do something I'd been thinking about but hadn't gotten around to yet: I paid the outstanding library fines for a neighbor's book-loving daughter so she could start borrowing books again. (Fines were high and the mom couldn't pay--long story.) Then I took the receipt that said "Balance: $0," put it in a Christmas card, and mailed it anonymously.

The other stuff I've done hasn't been as big as that, but it has been a good reminder to try and spread positivity when I can, even if it's something as small as telling a stranger that her scarf is pretty rather than just thinking that to myself.

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I'm a literary agent in NYC. I specialize in crime fiction and narrative non-fiction (history and biography.) I'll be glad to receive a query letter from you; guidelines to help you decide if I'm looking for what you write are below.
There are several posts labelled "query pitfalls" and "annoy me" that may help you avoid some common mistakes when querying.